Chronic wound care is challenging for the entire healthcare ecosystem, from clinicians to patients, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated those challenges. Patients are delaying primary care provider and wound clinician visits for ongoing guidance and therapy to reduce possible exposure to the virus. This is understandable, as many chronic wound patients are in the high-risk category if they become ill with COVID-19.¹ They are also putting off elective surgeries, annual physicals, and basic preventive care, which can negatively affect long-term outcomes.

Jeffrey M. Levine MD, AGSF, CMD, CWSP

My colleagues, Barbara Delmore PhD, RN, CWCN, MAPWCA and Jill Cox PhD, RN, APN-c, CWOCN, and I have written a paper,¹ available electronically ahead of print, that reviews the skin failure concept, defines related controversies, and proposes a model for its pathogenesis. Like all other organs, skin can fail; however, experts continue to grapple with definitions, causative factors, and manifestations.

Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Wound care has evolved from treatments based on superstition to systematic, evidence-based care. The history of wound healing dates back to 2000 BCE. Various civilizations over the centuries had differing approaches to wound care.

Pressure injuries impact quality of life. Tissue destruction in pressure injuries occurs when capillaries supplying the skin structure are compressed for a prolonged time, usually occurring between a bony prominence and a surface. Education and prevention are essential in reducing the prevalence of pressure injuries.